All the latest PSVR titles reviewed.

Rez Infinite

Rez Infinite is definitely one of the more unique PSVR titles so far. But does its weird and blood-pumping world and the fact that it is a VR remake justify the price tag?

Try to imagine a psychedelic drug trip through the bowels of cyberspace at almost light-speed velocity and you’d be pretty close to gauging just what Rex Infinite can feel like.

If I explained the game as a mannequin flying through the Internet, shooting robot bugs whilst collecting blue and red blobs, all-the-while striving not to be hit by missiles and blowing open rainbow boxes, I would be wholly failing to describe the game properly whilst at the same time explaining it perfectly accurately. Essentially what I’ve just described is Rez Infinite.

You fly through the levels, on-the-rails, and use your head, or the DS4, to aim the cursor at the many enemies that fly around your character. Your goal is to destroy them before they kill you and make it past the boss at the end. You get extra kudos for grabbing all of the pick-ups and destroying all of the enemies.

Rez was originally released for the Dreamcast and Playstation 2 back in 2001 and was lauded for its unique combat, replacing the sounds of explosions with electronic music. Much of the game remains the same, especially its focus on creating vast and intense musical landscapes as you struggle to survive increasing amounts of more powerful enemies.

There are lots of modes here; Play, in which you can play all five of the main levels, or “areas”; Travelling, in which you can play the first four and not be harmed; Score Attack, a high-score mode and; Beyond, which features a couple of extra levels and modes. These modes focus around the same four to five levels and vary them slightly here and there.

Combat is intuitive and fun.

Area X is a new addition for the PSVR version and takes the original Rez and modernises it. The basic principle is the same but here you have more control over your character – you are able to move freely in 3D space – and everything feels crisper, brighter and generally much more epic.

The combat is intuitive and satisfying. You hold down X and look at which enemies you wish to destroy and release to unleash your weapons fire. You can lock-on to a maximum of eight enemies, or onto the same enemy eight times if they are a particularly strong one. Once you’ve dispatched a batch of enemies you can immediately start the process again, there is no cooldown time, which is a great and appreciated mechanic. At a touch of the circle button you can unleash a powerful auto-attack, which will decimate anything on screen. This can be used a maximum of four times a level unless you come across red item pick-ups which will replenish your stock.

As you progress through the levels you will also come across blue items which will increase your health. As your health increases your character becomes more and more humanoid. As you take damage you become less humanoid and can eventually end up as a simple sphere. I believe there is some sort of story here about birth or re-birth, but I must say I found it a little difficult to follow.

The graphics are great here, even on the original PS4. The immersion factor is through the roof; the sense of speed is unmatched. There is an all-too-likely chance of sensory overload here. The sounds and sights get faster and more intense as levels progress. I mentioned riding through the bowels of cyberspace earlier and I meant it. During one level I truly felt as if I was speeding through the binary code of the Internet. The music suits the game perfectly, even if it’s not the sort of pumping synth you’d normally listen to. The sound effects feel odd at first but you soon get used to them.

There are comfort settings here for those new to VR and you may well need to use them. Playing this game for long sessions can be quite nauseating at first. Once you get accustomed to the game and remove all the comfort settings Rez Infinite is one of the wildest PSVR rides so far.

My only real criticism of Rez Infinite is that the game relies very heavily on replaying the same areas over and over again. This wouldn’t normally bother me, but the price is higher than other games available that offer much more content. Playing through the main five areas will only take you a few hours and it’s up to you how much time you’d want to spend replaying them. Area X is a great addition, appreciated, and will certainly increase playtime but once again it’s up to you by how much.

If you’re already a fan of Rez then Rez Infinite is the only way to play. If you’re new to Rez then VR is still the way to go, just be sure you really want it for its current price or wait for a sale.

Verdict: 8/10 – A wild ride and one of the most intense PSVR titles so far.